Exit polls spotlight L.A. as liberal bastion, and San Fernando Valley, too, reflects shift to left

Voters in Los Angeles proved far more liberal than the rest of the state in Tuesday's election, supporting President Barack Obama and a statewide tax in overwhelming numbers, according to new exit polling and registrar data.

The San Fernando Valley - once known as a more conservative corner of the city - also heavily supported Democratic causes, though not quite as strongly as the rest of the city.

The Valley also supported Measure B, the countywide proposal to require condoms in porn shoots, even though it is the home of the multibillion-dollar adult film industry, which heavily opposed the effort.

In the city, 76 percent of voters supported Obama and 21.5percent went for Mitt Romney out of more than 853,000 votes cast, according to data from the County Clerk/Registrar's Office. In the seven City Council districts that encompass the Valley, voters gave Obama 70 percent and Romney 28 percent.

Statewide, Obama received 59.1 percent of the vote over Romney, who received 38.6 percent.

Additionally, exit polling data from the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University, found that Obama drew his heaviest support in Los Angeles from women, Latinos, blacks, young voters, Catholics, Jews, Muslims and agnostic/atheists.

"I think what the vote shows is that Los Angeles County is more liberal than the rest of the state, and the Valley and Los Angeles city are more liberal than the county," said Fernando Guerra, director of the institute.

The Loyola center survey was conducted Tuesday by 175 students at 50 polling places around the city. They collected 2,595 surveys in English and Spanish, with a margin of error of 1.89 percent.

Measure B passed in the city of Los Angeles by almost 56percent of the more than 767,000 votes cast, according to the county registrar. In the Valley, it passed with 51 percent of 402,000 votes cast.

The sections of the Valley that rejected Measure B were Council Districts 4 (South Valley and Hollywood), 5 (South Valley and Westside) and 12 (Chatsworth/North Valley).

The only district outside of the Valley where the condom measure lost was in the 11th Council District, which includes West Los Angeles down to the LAX area. It was defeated 40,499 to 37,546.

Brianne Gilbert, assistant director of the center, said they were surprised at the measure's breakdown.

"What's even more interesting is that men were more likely to oppose the measure," Gilbert said.

Of the men surveyed, 61 percent said they opposed requiring condoms in porn, while 63 percent of women surveyed backed the requirement. Among the different ethnic groups, blacks gave it the highest level of support at 69 percent, while only 41 percent of whites supported Measure B, according to the exit polling. Latinos stood at 62 percent support, Asians at 56 percent.

Political analyst Allan Hoffenblum, publisher of the Target Book, said he is not surprised that the Valley was so liberal, despite its past reputation.

"It's no longer the conservative, Republican San Fernando Valley," Hoffenblum said. "You have more young people, more people of color living in the Valley. And the whites who stayed are either moderate or liberal."

Raphael Sonenshein, director of the Pat Brown Institute at California State University, Los Angeles, said some of that is from GOP voters leaving the area.

"It is a bit more conservative than the rest of the city, but not that much," Sonenshein said. "There was an exodus of Republicans leaving the area and the Valley is becoming more and more urbanized and it's reflected in their votes."

Among age groups, Obama captured 88 percent of voters between 18 and 29; 83 percent of those between 30 and 44; 75 percent of those between 45 and 64; and 68 percent of those over the age of 65, according to the exit polling.

In the race for district attorney, the findings were similar. Countywide, District Attorney-elect Jackie Lacey received 54.9 percent compared with the 45.9 percent for Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson.

In the Valley, Lacey was the choice of 56 percent of voters and, in the city, 59 percent, according to the county registrar data.

On the Proposition 30 tax measure to help schools, statewide support for the measure was 53.9 percent. But, in Los Angeles, it received 65 percent support and, in the Valley it was favored by 60 percent, according to the county data.

"I think the biggest impact we see was on Proposition 30," Guerra said. "I think the Los Angeles vote ... put it over the top. Without the Valley and the Los Angeles vote, it could very well have failed.